November 23, 2007

I’m concerned that my husband is afraid of me. Here’s why. When we first started talking about building a deck in the backyard I
knew I wanted it to be BIG (by the way, we starting making plans for this deck
before the house was even completed…almost six years ago.) I wanted it to be big because I wanted family
and friends to feel welcome – my house is wonderful for my husband and I but
add two more people and the “entertaining” area is down right cramped.

Now when we began revisiting the notion of building a deck
early this spring my husband and I stood out in the backyard and he asked “How
big do you want it?”

“I want it to run along the whole back of the house”, was my
response. This seemed like a logical
size to me. I don’t live in a palatial estate. I live in a ranch-style house that only
contains 4 dining room chairs so I felt rational while standing in the backyard
with my arms stretched wide to indicate the scope of my dream deck.

“How wide do you want it?”

“Wide enough so we can have your whole family over.”

Our completed our deck measures 41 feet long x 19 feet wide.
It is bigger than the apartment my husband and I lived in when we were first
married.

This spring, summer and fall we were able to complete most
of the deck – there is just a bit of “finish work” to be done next spring. It is monstrous. A sane husband would’ve said “You know the
size you’re suggesting is a bit large for our yard…and our purposes.” My wonderful husband is clearly petrified of me…he continues to respond to my crack pot
ideas with, “Okay.”

August 13, 2007

No matter where you call home your remaining summer days are fleeting - make the most of them by taking a look at the TodaysMama.com Calendar page (shameless plug). You can find OODLES of fun things to do with your family in the following areas:

May 21, 2007

On Saturday morning at approximately 9:30, I crossed the
finish line at the Women of Steel Triathlon! I saw my Mom first as I rounded the corner on 400 North and approached
the finish line, then I saw my Dad and my husband…and long before I actually saw Rachael and Stephanie I heard them
screaming for me. Having my friends and
family at the finish line meant a lot to me – seeing my Mom, in particular as I
rounded that corner…well, it got my weak little legs the rest of the distance.

Doing this race was an amazing experience (notice I didn’t
say “competing in this race” I’m SO not a competitor yet) I was very surprised
at how good I felt during the swim and bike. I wondered if this race would be torture from start to finish, but it
wasn’t…it was just torture at the end!

The swim went well – we were able to position ourselves
according to our swim time, Rachael and I sought out the 7 minute group and
parked our lycra-clad selves among them. Lucky for us the “traffic jam” that occurred early in the pool had
worked itself out by the time we jumped in. The swim felt great – Dave’s coaching kicked in and it was a piece of
cake.

This is where I must admit being a bit naïve. I foolishly thought that because this was a
women’s event I would be able to run in my wet lycra from the pool to the
transition area in relative comfort. What I failed to realize is that where the women go – men follow. So as I exit the pool building in my totally
hot outfit I’m greeted by camcorders and cameras being held by supportive
husbands and boyfriends. Uh...I didn’t
sign up for THAT. But I told myself that
these men were no different from my wonderful husband and I got over it.

In my haste to transition from the swim to the bike, I
forgot my granola bar. I also forgot how
to shift my bike, which led to me riding in the lowest gear for…oh…3 miles or
so. See, my Mom decided (the day before
the race) that I needed a better bike then my vintage Peugeot. So she loaned me her Trek – when I picked it
up and my Dad asked, “Do you know how to shift that bike?”, like all impatient
children that believe their parents underestimate their brilliance I said, “Yes”. Well, it turns out that I didn’t. So at mile 3 I waved down the Flying Wrenches
van and a very nice young man showed me how to shift my bike. Needless to say the remaining 7 miles went
MUCH BETTER.

When I got off the bike to do the run, I crammed 2 Clif Shot
Bloks in my mouth and took off running. I felt like I was back in the pool – my legs were heavy and it felt like
I was running underwater. I walked for
about half of the run. I feel no
shame. I ran as much as I could as often
as I could. I, like many, were surprised
to learn at the walk-through on Friday night that we wouldn’t be permitted to
run with headphones. WHAT? Yes, running
to angry music has been my running crutch…without my crutch I was forced to
listen to my own pathetic breathing. Now
I know. And now I’ll train for my next
Tri without headphones!

This Triathlon was a big deal for me – it’s given me a
different perspective on my “Athena” body and made me stretch my idea of what
I’m personally capable of. I’m now
obsessed with swimming and biking…my Mom is helping me look for a used touring
bike. But I’m not giving up on running;
I’ve seen what I can do with swimming and biking so I there might just be a
runner hiding inside me somewhere.

May 03, 2007

Sixteen days until the Women of Steel Triathlon. Reading that makes me a bit more excited that
you might imagine. Or it did until my one-piece race suit arrived
on my doorstep yesterday afternoon. For some reason, before that…before I held
that tiny spandex getup in my hands, I didn’t realize I would actually be
running in all spandex.

I’m still enthusiastic and committed to the race – now I
just have some attire anxiety. Is it
really THAT bad if my transition times are 10 minutes and I run in
sweatpants? I’m going to have to ask
Coach Dave about that.

I thought that getting my picture taken in a swim cap and
swimsuit for this Salt Lake Tribune article would be the highlight of my
triathlon “stardom”. Now I’m told that
we’ll be joined by a reporter and photographer from the Deseret News during our
training on Friday. Someone is coming to
photograph me in my head to toe spandex so. Oh…hey…wow…all my wildest dreams are coming true and it’s not even my
birthday yet!

April 18, 2007

Let me preface this post by saying that I don’t have a particular love of The Karate Kid. Any chuckle that I get at seeing a pop
culture reference to the movie is solely based on the fact that two of my
dearest friends are WILDLY obsessed with the movie. So much so that a few years ago for
Halloween, Amanda and Dal tried to convince me to dress up as the skeleton gang
from Karate Kid. When I told them that
slapping on a skin tight unitard didn’t sound like a barrel of fun they
suggested that I go as Daniel...complete with the shower costume. As you can imagine, that plan didn’t really
pan out.

They also have a fondness for the Karate Kid
soundtrack. Amanda has been known to
reenact, with admirable accuracy, some of the fight sequences. It is truly a site to behold. I’m pretty sure that one day she’s going to
accidentally give me a black eye.

Once they went to the Bahamas (oh, don’t feel bad for me,
I was invited, but I had to work) and the FIRST thing they told me upon their
return was not of the beautiful beaches but of meeting a Johnny look-a-like at
a casino. They took pictures to prove
it.

April 11, 2007

For me, training for the triathlon has never been about
speed. It’s never been about beating my “best
time” or improving my technique…let’s be honest…it’s been about groping around
in the dark to FIND a technique. My goal
for the TriUtah Women’s Triathlon has been very simply to finish the race
(without walking during the run.) I don’t care how long it takes.

That’s not to say that I’m not attempting to move
quickly. It’s just that when you choose
to train with two women that are in considerably better shape than you are, you
spend an awful lot of the training time coming in last. My times are consistently the least
impressive of the group…but don’t cry for me Argentina…I’m okay with that
because most of the training sessions with Coach Dave have been TOUGH and for
me, the mere completion of his regimen has been extremely gratifying.

Just as I was getting comfortable bringing up the rear I got
to sample the sweet taste of victory. During
swim training I, Erin-the-Athena, managed to land at the end of the lane…wait
for it…FIRST!

Okay…it wasn’t even one lap,
it was only one length of the pool and I was “first” by one measly second (I’m
tall so I’m pretty sure that one second was in body length, but whatever). Coach Dave told us that we’d be doing “speed
work” that morning which consisted of five rounds of the following; 100 meters
at our regular pace then two 25 meter sprints. I finished my first 25 meter sprint swim in 20 seconds. Hell, I don’t think I could run 25 meters in 20 seconds. I wish I would have had a camera to capture
the look on Coach Dave and Stephanie’s face – to say that they were stunned
would have been an understatement!

Now don’t worry, I’m not delusional…I DO realize that a
quick 25 meter pace won’t amount to a hill of beans on race day. But it is sure nice to keep up with the group
every once and awhile.

March 22, 2007

I bought “I Trust You to Kill
Me” by Rocco DeLuca & The Burden a few months ago after seeing a promo for
a VH1 Roc Docs special featuring the story of the band and their very famous
road manager, Kiefer Sutherland. The
promo immediately caught my attention because, for ONCE, Flavor Flav wasn’t in
it wearing that stupid Viking helmet. After listening to the album for months I figured it was time to
highlight it as a Staff Pick of The Week on TodaysMama.com.

The first impression I got
from this album is that it was cool without trying…like the kids from college whose
dorm room or apartment seemed to be constantly humming with the sound of great
music. It was different and wonderful
and you couldn’t identify because it wasn’t like every other homogenized tune
playing on the radio. This album makes
you feel like that cool kid. A fantastic
mix of blues and rock with enough of a variety that you’ll be able to pull
tracks from “I Trust You to Kill Me” for every play-list mood you can dream
up. “Colorful” now lives on my list of
all time favorite songs, “Soul” is a new standard for me when I run and “Swing
Low” and “Mystified” are standouts on this album and will be perfect for the
evenings that I spend sitting on the deck with a cold beer.

As an added
bonus, it’s not “chick music” making it ideal for mixed company activities
(such as deck building) if the men in your life are sick of you trying to get
them to appreciate the subtle nuances of a John Mayer tune.

March 21, 2007

I was beginning to think that I would never, ever have the
opportunity to write the following statement: I’m improving. The swimming practice is starting to pay off!

Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve turned
into some sort of world class swimmer, I’m simply not flopping around as much as I did when I started training.
Oh, and the oxygen deprivation headaches from my incorrect breathing technique
have subsided so there’s another one for the “success” column.

If I said that my swimming has improved due to the long
hours of work and toil at the Aquatic Center, I WOULD BE
LYING. My swimming has improved because
of Coach Dave’s swim drills – the zipper drill, the recovery drill, and
the…uh…one where you use only one arm. At
the end of our group swim training last week, Coach Dave told us that we’ve
each improved a lot since our first swim session. With the Women’s Sprint Triathlon less than
two months away, that was good to hear.

This week we’ll be doing a “brick” training session at In
Training which means that we’ll be alternating between biking and running (ride
the bike, hop off to run for 10 minutes, back on the bike, repeat). Personally, I think my brick session will
look more like this – ride the bike, run for 3.5 minutes, walk for 6.5 minutes,
ride the bike, lay on the ground, cry, bargain, shout, ride the bike, go home.